In known vending machines of the above type, the store is normally defined by a revolver device having a number of vertical channels, which house respective stacks of cups and have respective axes equally spaced so as to lie on a cylindrical surface. The revolver device is mounted to rotate about a vertical axis to selectively move each channel into a transfer position, in which the channel releases the respective stack to the dispensing device.
Being hollow in the middle, stores of the above type have the drawback of being extremely bulky in proportion to their storage capacity, so manufacturers are most often forced to achieve a suitable compromise between self-sufficiency and compactness of the machine.
To satisfy these two conflicting requirements, “linear” stores have been proposed, i.e. stores containing a line of stacks aligned in a straight conveying direction.
One example of a “linear” store is described in FR 2491888, in which the store is defined by two lateral walls, and a bottom wall which, together with the lateral walls, defines a space for housing a line of cup stacks and closed at one end by a transfer device for feeding the stacks selectively to the dispensing device.
Another example of a “linear” store is described in JP 4032993, in which the store is structurally similar to the one described in FR 2491888, except that the bottom wall is defined by a belt conveyor. In both cases, the store comprises a stack retaining device for keeping the stacks upright and compact in the conveying direction, and which is defined by a plate held contacting and pressed against the last stack in the line by elastic means.
Assemblies of the above type have the drawback of the retaining plate exerting a constant force on the cup stacks in the conveying direction. As a result, when the stacks are not moving towards the transfer device, they are pressed against the transfer device, the effects of which get worse as the stacks are unloaded, even to the point of possibly damaging or crushing the cups.